Stories

Desktop dies on weekends

Web traffic from desktop computers plummets on weekends as people spend most of their time on mobile once they leave the office on Fridays, according to a Parse.ly study.

The ratio of mobile to desktop traffic stays somewhere near 1:1 throughout the week, but on weekends, the ratio changes dramatically -- nearing closer to 2:1. Check out the grey dips in the chart below.

Parse.ly estimates that this change accelerated most from 2015-2016. Their findings also show that the mobile ratio tends to increase late at night, even supporting an 11:00 p.m. EST "reading activity peak" for mobile visitors.

Why it matters: According to Parse.ly, mobile usage at night and weekends could suggest that mobile/tablet devices are being used for leisure content consumption. It would make sense that publishers take a different approach to content and format on weekends, to reflect reader consumption and behavior habits.